Humans of St. Louis – the Best Thing on the Internet

If you haven’t “Liked” Humans of St. Louis on Facebook yet, do it. It’s too easy to lose sight of the humanity that makes this city a wonderful place to live. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. There’s sadness, joy, humor and all the other things that make us human. Check it out, and enjoy the best thing on the Internet in St. Louis. This is the good stuff:

“What’s your happiest memory?”
“Driving 19 hours and finally arriving here.”
“That’s your happiest memory?”
“It was an awesome day. I drove with everything I owned in a four-door car and within two hours I found a place to live. I signed the paperwork when I walked in the door because I loved it and just fell asleep on the floor. I haven’t moved since.”

“I don’t think there’s too great a struggle in life if you look at it the right way.”

“So you make piggy banks out of satellites?”
“Ya mon.”
“Where did you get this idea from?”
“Well, I was living in California for a while. And when I lived in Jamaica, I used to paint on big ole banana leaves. So I was on my porch in California and I didn’t see no big leaves like that. But I saw this.”

“What would you have told yourself 30 years ago if you gave yourself advice now?”
“You know what? I think you got me there. You stung me like a bee. I’m glad it was you instead of a bee though! You got to be thankful to still be living now. I mean, there’s so many people taking people’s lives. I had two sons and I had a son that got killed and he was 22 years old. I was saying to myself, it seems like the kids should be living longer than the parents do. So, I think about that a lot.”

“What’s the best thing about being 12?”
“Going to junior high school?”
“What are you looking forward to?”
“Having my own locker.”
“So what are you going to do when you have your own locker?”
“Make sure that I remember that it’s mine.”

“What’s your biggest struggle?”
“The fact that I’m a man dressed like a woman. Sometimes I feel like I’m not equal or not good enough as real women. But then again it feels like it’s not that I’m not good enough, sometimes I feel like I’m special because I’m different.”

About Alex Ihnen

Alex is the founder of nextSTL.com. He earned a B.A. in Journalism and Masters in Public Affairs at Indiana University and has studied in Adelaide, Australia and Perugia, Italy. Alex can be found on Twitter @alexihnen and reached at [email protected]